Russell Martin: Southampton boss admits squad will not be 'perfect' for season opener
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New Southampton manager Russell Martin says "patience" is going to be important as his side prepare to tackle Championship football
Southampton manager Russell Martin says his side will not be "perfect" for their Championship season opener in two weeks' time.
Saints, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, travel to Sheffield Wednesday to begin their second tier campaign on 4 August.
"Preparations are going well," Martin told BBC South Today.
"But in terms of the detail and the tactical stuff it's not going to look perfect in two weeks' time."
Martin, who has only been in charge at Southampton for a month, arrived at St Mary's on a three-year-contract from fellow Championship side Swansea.
He is tasked with rebuilding a side that finished dead last in the Premier League last season, ending their 11 year stay in the top flight.
When he took over, the 37-year-old said he wanted his Southampton side to "dominate" every aspect of the game.
He says the players have worked incredibly hard since his arrival.
"I've been so impressed with them and their willingness to learn, make mistakes and train hard," he added.
"I didn't have an expectation on where the players would be because what we are doing now is very different to what they have been used to.
"It's been a case of coming in and seeing how quickly we can get ideas into them.
"They have attacked everything with real energy and now they're starting to do it with a smile on their faces which is really nice because we are going to need to enjoy it this year.
"The Championship can be a tough old slog."
'Patience is going to be important'
Southampton have played two of five pre-season friendlies so far this summer.
They lost 2-0 to Benfica and drew 1-1 versus fellow Sport Republic side Goztepe in Turkey.
Martin says it is important they remain patient: "At the start of the season I think we will be in a place that is good enough to go and win games at this level.
"We have only played two games so far and the players have improved and learned from those games every time.
"The more games we play the more we will learn about the players and we are really open minded.
"We had a moment the other day where we [coaches] looked at each other and said, 'yeah, they are really starting to get it now'.
"We are going from one way of working to the opposite end of the spectrum - patience is going to be really important this season."
